Holes Through Verse
by elilover2
Summary: Poems I wrote about one of my favorite pairings and stories centered around them.


**A/N: This is a series of short stories written around a series of poems I wrote. They are not really in order, so they might be at CGL, and then not, and then before, and then not. You get the idea. So, enjoy. This is Squid/ZigZag. Guy on guy. **

Squid's POV

_I remember_

_Getting my nickname_

_I had just arrived_

_Fresh meat_

_And they had all jumped_

_Right into the task of_

_Rechristening me_

_They toyed with some ideas_

_Cowboy_

_Toothpick_

_Chocolate_

_But, none of them worked_

_So, they eventually gave up_

_For then_

_A few days later_

_Just working on my hole_

_I heard a cry_

_"Squid!"_

_Magnet_

_"Cause his hair does this"_

_He demonstrated_

_"Like tentacles"_

_Approved_

_I belonged_

_In the sea,_

_But still._

I stepped off the bus, eyes squinting against the bright sun. The heat was so bad, it shimmered, sparkling and popping through my vision. I closed my eyes, letting them adjust, amd reopened them. Stupid idea. It was just as bad.

I was led by the guard into a small office. A large man, almost scary, but kind of funny at the same time, chewed some sunflower seeds threateningly. He eyed me and I eyed him, not backing down. Of course, this wasn't the streets I was used to, and the leading systen didn't work the same way, but I'd always defied authority. I wasn't about to stop now.

"Alan Smith." The man tipped back in his seat, motioning to a chair across from the desk. I sat, looking around the small room. As I noticed before, it was just a regular office. Filing cabinents, a desk, posters and shit tacked to the walls, and a large sack of sunflower seeds on the desk. I considered taking some, but then again, stealing food had been what got me into this mess in the first place.

"Yes?" I finally responded to the man's statement and he squinted his eyes at me. Spitting sunflower seed shells onto the floor in what could only be described as a nonverbal threat he leaned forward.

"You will call me Mr. Sir."

I snorted, thinking he couldn't be serious, and even if he was, I wasn't going to take him seriously.

"You think my name's FUNNY?" Mr. Sir demanded and I bit back another chuckle.

"No, Mr. Sir." I snickered and he nodded, eyes darting to the guard and back to me.

"Good. Come with me."

We left the building, heading to another one beside it. I saw a row of tents stretching into the distance, and a shower section. The nozzles stuck up about a foot above the walls between each shower. As we walked, I noticed a crowd of boys just staring at me. One of them wolf whistled, god knows why, and a few chuckled at it.

"Fresh meat!" Someone yelled and I shot them the bird, moving into the cramped confines of the next building. I'm promptly hit with two neon orange jumpsuits, which I study slightly bemusedly.

"Two sets. One for relaxing, one for work. Every three days your work clothes are washed and they become your relaxing clothes." Mr. Sir explained, "Now, get changed."

I stripped down, thanking the heavens above that I had worn bxers, and zipped myself into one of the jumpsuits. After that, I was given a canteen and the rest of the rules. One of which was getting up at 4:30 every day. I grimaced at this. But, that wasn't the worst part.

"Every day you will be digging a hole. 5 feet across and 5 feet deep. Your shovel will be your measuring stick."

I balked, protesting instantly "You're making us dig a damn hole!"

"Take a bad boy, make him dig 5 feet, and he'll turn into a good boy."

The most fucked up logic I'd ever heard, but I didn't argue the point. It wasn't going to get me anywhere except some form of purgatory, if this wasn't purgatory enough. I contented myself with glaring at the back of Mr. Sir as a new man came in and introduced himself as Mr. Pendanski. He had way too much sunscreen on his nose, and way too much cheer for my taste. I scowled as he led me to my tent. Tent D. D standing for Diligence or, as I soon learned, Douchebag.

"Boys, come meet your new tentmate!" Pendanski called into the tent and a row of boys leaked out, ranging in skin tone from dark to completely pale, and size from short to slightly less short. One of them was enormously fat.

"This is Rex, Lewis, Theodore, and Jose." Rex had dark black skin and glasses, Lewis was tall and had brown hair, Theodore was fat and slightly lighter then Rex, and Jose was hispanic. A merry band of criminals, I grinned and Rex sneered at me.

"It's X-Ray," He pointed to himself, "Barfbag, Armpit, and Magnet." He scowled, "And that's mom."

"Nicknames." Pendanski, mom, snorted, "I prefer to call them by their REAL names. Rex, you be Alan's mentor." And with that, Mom left. I watched him go, then turned back to my new roomates. They stared at me, sizing me up. I returned the favor. X-Ray was obviously leader, I could tell just by the way he stood, arms crossed, standing slightly in front of the others. Legs spread just enough, not like he was about to bolt, but like he knew he had other's to fight for him if he wanted to. Though, he looked like the one doing all the fighting.

"Cots in there." X-Ray jerked his head and I nodded, still sizing him up. He tilted his head, glasses glinting. He smiled menacingly and turned to the other's, "He thinks he's something. Look at that, the kid actually thinks he matters."

I gritted my teeth, but ignored the jibe. I didn't want to get into a fight, especially not an uneven one. I would get pummeled, and that would not be pleasant. So, I just turned towards the tent and walked inside, putting my stuff down on the first empty cot I spotted.

This was going to be hell.

* * *

Three days, three days I had been in this hell hole. I had dug two holes since my first day, both of them lopsided, hands blistering from the work. However, I had earned something. Respect from my tentmates. So much that were currently working on a nickname, a badge of honor in this place. A shedding of your old life and the zipping up of a new one. I was wary of this nicknaming though, sure I would get stuck with one as bad as Barfbag.

"How about Cowboy?" Armpit suggested at dinner and the whole table threw him dirty looks, not just me. He mumbled something that sounded like "Fuck you" and went back to his food. I breathed a sigh of relief.

The next day, Barfbag had a suggestion.

"Toothpick?"

This came from the fact that I had found great pleasure in the toothpick machine hidden in the cafeteria. It was buried behind the napkins and utensils, extremely hard to find. So hard in fact, that I had managed to keep it a secret from everyone else. They thought the random toothpicks were either gifts from God, or some kind of magic trick. I let them think whatever, just as long as I got to keep chewing on my toothpicks.

Sadly, the name didn't stick.

Another suggestion came from Magnet.

"Chocolate?"

"Man that's racist!"

And that was the end of that.

Finally, on the fourth day, something happened. I was digging my hole, minding my own business, when I heard an excited yell from Magnet's hole.

"Squid!"

Everybody's heads popped up, like Prairie dogs, and Magnet jumped out of his hole, grinning down at us. He pointed at me, eyes glowing.

"Cause his hair does this." He pointed his fingers, laying them on his head so they stuck out over his forehead, and wiggled them around. I self conciously smoothed my hair down and felt the fluffy tendrils pop back into that exact shape.

Damn.

"Like tentacles." Magnet laughed and the other's joined in, congratulating Magnet on a job well done. He high fived them, grinning hugely at me. I sent him my best glare, trying to translate "Fuck you" and "I'll beat you to a pulp" in the same gaze. He ignored it, jumping back into his hole and digging as if nothing had happened. I sighed and went back to my own hole.

Later that evening, as I was heading to the showers, I heard a few calls from behind me.

"Squid!"

"His hair does stick out!"

"Man, maybe we can make him ink!"

"That's octopi dumbass."

I gritted my teeth and smoothed my hair but POP, back into place.

Squid it was.


End file.
